Fire to Heaven
by Wavewind Harbour
Summary: It is the Chinese belief that, if you burn something, it will reach the departed person you intended it for; a series of letters Kakashi sends to the dead and the replies never received.
1. First Contact

Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto. Unfortunately xD

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_It is the Chinese belief that, if you burn something, it will reach the departed person you intended it for._

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Minato-sensei,

You probably think I'm crazy by now, sending this letter. Come to think about it, I'm not so sure about my sanity myself. You're dead. Gone. And here I sit, wishing that I were saying this to your face, and not on some shitty piece of paper to burn.

I attended the funeral, 'attended' being used loosely. It would be more accurate to say that I was dragged there by Jiraiya-sama himself. He isn't much better than I am. Then again, no one is. I've never seen the Sandaime cry before.

Rin's dead. The fox got to her before you could take it away. She died in the line of duty with a smile, thinking that you would fix everything.

You broke your promise, Sensei. You'd promised you'd not die so soon, that you wouldn't leave us- _me_ all alone. Yet now you're dead, and all I've got left of you is that face on the mountain watching me and this damn kunai. They're just not enough.

Kakashi


	2. Re: First Contact

_It is the Chinese belief that, if you burn something, it will reach the departed person you intended it for._

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Kakashi, it's me. Obito. Not that you can see me or hear me, even though I'm standing right here...but it would feel weird to not say got your letter. Minato-sensei can't come find you himself - I was there, watching, and I have no idea what he did to get himself into that situation - so I'm here to pass on the message, because it would be wrong not to.

He says he's sorry. But he doesn't think he could have done it any differently. Watch over Naruto for him, please, watch over Konoha; he's sorry he can't do it himself anymore, he's sorry he broke his promise to you, to us, but he had more important promises to keep, however poor an excuse it is.

I haven't found Rin yet; it's such a mess on this side, there's so many... But I know what she'd say, and it's what I'd say to you too, Kakashi.

The team's not all dead yet. There's still you. What are you doing, standing here talking to us? We can wait, and we'll always be with you anyway. Get out there and live! Do something!

Ugh, this is so frustrating. No matter how loudly I shout, you'll never hear me...and I don't want you to be able to, either.


	3. Status Report 1

_It is the Chinese belief that, if you burn something, it will reach the departed person you intended it for._

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Minato-sensei,

Naruto is now eight weeks old. Weight: 5.05kg; height, 0.61m. His caretakers report that he eats well and does not suffer from colic. His development is progressing according to the obstetrician's expectations for his age group. His physical development is also progressing normally; he can now hold his head up, focus on a target with both eyes and has begun to imitate expressions and sounds. As for his mental development, he remains oblivious.

His caretaker's house was assaulted yesterday at 22:27. Boar and Locust removed the assailants and Naruto remains unharmed, but they will be moving him to a new location. It is Sandaime-sama's will that he not be introduced into an orphanage.

I have been scheduled to provide protection Wednesdays, 20:00-04:00 and Fridays, 12:00-20:00. I will be requesting additional hours come morning.

He looks like you.


	4. Re: Status Report 1

_It is the Chinese belief that, if you burn something, it will reach the departed person you intended it for._

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Kakashi-kun, you could at least have included a photo for Minato, -ttebane! I can describe Naruto to him, but that's not good enough! Jeez, you're so thick sometimes...

Whether or not you can hear me, Kakashi-kun, I just want to say thank you for looking out for my son, and to pass on Minato's thanks as well.

I told him, Kakashi. I told him this is not going to turn out well for Naruto. But you know how Minato gets when he thinks he absolutely_ has_ to do something; nothing's going to stop him, not even me. And now I can't do anything but watch you do damage control, and old man Hokage's slipping, he really is, ugh! When he gets here I'm going to need to talk to him, see if I don't, -ttebane...

I know you try your best, though, Kakashi-kun, and that's enough.


	5. Confession

_It is the Chinese belief that, if you burn something, it will reach the departed person you intended it for._

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Obito,

My father raised me to be one thing: shinobi. I thought everything would be fine, because we could handle it.

Then my father was pushed to suicide because he saved his own comrades.

Then you two joined our team; Rin and you. I know I was hard on you, and especially you, Obito. You went against everything I had been taught to be, and I believed that spelled disaster. That you would be the death of us all, or yourself, and I couldn't accept losing a comrade. Even one like you. Yet I now see that I cherished our time together, even though I never admitted it to myself. You three meant everything to me then, and that might have made me even harsher on you, especially once the war started.

Then you died.

The war seemed to just drag on, no matter what we did. With Minato-sensei, we started winning again, but it didn't seem to make much difference. Iizuka, Konegi, Matsura; we kept losing people we knew, and it felt as if there would be no end.

Then Rin died.

I can't tell you much about the war effort after that. Gai tried to keep me sane. I remember Minato-sensei trying to talk to me, but he had quite a lot to deal with, too. And it dragged on and on. And then... it ended. I remember blinking at the Sandaime as he announced the ceasefire and that peace negotiations were being put forward. Gai hugged me and roared something about the power of youth, while Minato-sensei just stood there, smiling quietly.

I didn't take part in the celebrations, but it still felt nice. I was starting to think that the world might finally calm down.

Then the Kyuubi attacked, and Minato-sensei died.

I've seen a rebuilt Konoha lain to ashes thrice now. I've seen young children slaughtered, murdered, burned and trampled. I've seen older people aplenty dying in the same fashion. And, just when it seems as if things are finally starting to heal, just when everything seems as if it's going to be okay, something else happens.

You gave me your eye so we could see the future together, Obito, but, sometimes, I wonder if the future is worth seeing at all.


End file.
